The Regnum Christi Movement offers its members some guidelines of a gospel-based spirituality as an ideal of Christian life. The spiritual path that Regnum Christi members walk mainly consists in knowing, loving, imitating, and proclaiming Christ. This is the path and these are the goals.

Below, we offer some resources that can help nurture the spiritual life of Movement members and of any Christian.

At that time some people who were present there
told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had
mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said
to them in reply, "Do you think that because these
Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners
than all other Galileans? By no means! But I
tell you, if you do not repent, you will all
perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who
were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on
them -- do you think they were more guilty than
everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent, you
will all perish as they did!" And he told
them this parable: "There once was a person who
had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when
he came in search of fruit on it but
found none, he said to the gardener, ´For three
years now I have come in search of fruit on
this fig tree but have found none. So cut
it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?´ He said
to him in reply, ´Sir, leave it for this
year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it
and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the
future. If not you can cut it down.´"

Introductory Prayer: Lord, who am I that you spend
time listening to me in my prayer? Who am I
that you speak with me? You have given humanity
such dignity by assuming our nature and giving me
personally so many gifts. Time and time again you have
been patient with me and received me back into
your embrace when I have strayed from you. Thank you
for your kindness to me. I hope to receive
it always in the future and especially at the
hour of my death. Your kindness and patience are a
manifestation of your love for me. I want to
return that love, because the only fitting response to
love is love.

Petition: Lord, help me to
be as patient with others as you are with me.

1. The Fig-less Fig: The owner of
the fig tree in the parable, which many spiritual authors
see as an image of God the Father, comes
for three years in search of fruit. How often
our Heavenly Father comes in search of fruit on the
fig tree of our lives. And what does he
find? He has given us the “soil” and so many
elements that are conducive to being fruitful. He has
made known his desire for us to bear fruit,
and his Son has explained to us how the fruit
is to be produced. There are no excuses. Let’s
take notice of the lesson of the parable: When the
Father comes to us looking for fruits, it is
because it is the time for fruit. What will we
say to the Father if he has given us
ten, twenty, forty, sixty years to bear fruit but
finds none? It’s not just about looking nice, as a
fig does. It’s about bearing fruit – fruit that
will last – according to the Father’s plan.

2.
The Fig That Was Almost Toast: There is an
American idiom referring to something that is destroyed and
no longer what it was: “It’s toast!” The fig
tree in the parable was in danger of becoming “toast.”
“Cut it down” was the order given by the
owner. “Why should it exhaust the soil?” What a
terrible accusation! It was useless and only sapping nutrients from
the soil for no purpose. When we apply this
parable to our own lives, it is ghastly to
think that our life, or the lives of others, might
be just as useless. Cut it down. Take it
away. It serves no purpose. The judgment is just. But
it was a judgment that was soon to be
lifted, both in the case of the fig tree and
in the application to our own lives. Am I
sufficiently grateful for God’s continual mercy towards me and
others?

3. Leave It… Thanks to
the gardener in the parable, the fig lives and is
not cut down. The axe does not bite into
the trunk of the fig, wrenching from it the beauty
of its leaves and meandering branches. In our case,
Jesus Christ the Good Gardener steps in and asks
the owner, the Heavenly Father, to “leave it;” he, the
Good Gardener, will take care of things. And how
he does it! The Gardener himself is cut down in
a bloody way and crucified. We who indeed should
justly be cut down are saved, while the axe
is put to the trunk of His body. All for
love of us! Archbishop Luis Martinez has a beautiful
image in his book, The Secrets of the Interior
Life where he speaks of suffering as a manifestation of
love: “It is said that the myrrh tree allows
its perfume to escape only when it is bruised.” The
perfume “flows drop by drop through the lacerations of
the bark that enfold them.”

Conversation with
Christ: Lord Jesus Christ, how patient the Father is with
me! Thank you for coming to save me, for
laying your life down for me, for suffering what I
should endure because of my self-centeredness and sinfulness. But
with you, there is hope.

Resolution: I will exercise patience today with everyone I
meet, thinking of the patience that God has had
with me.

The daily meditation is a service of Regnum Christi that offers people a Gospel reflection through e-mail. You can view the weekly meditation on this link or listen the podcast version here.